10 Nations Fight Deadline : Fish and Wine Delay Spanish Entry to EEC

Will 150 fishing trawlers block Spain’s entry into the European Economic Community?

Probably not, but unless this and a handful of other seemingly small disputes--over Spanish wine, fruit and vegetables--can be resolved by the end of this week, then not only Spain but Portugal as well may not make it into Europe by the end of this year.

The heads of government of the 10-nation community are scheduled to meet here Friday, as they do three times a year, but if it seems that they will have to spend their time arguing about such questions as fish and wine, they might not come at all.

The Italians, who hold the presidency of the community for the first six months of this year, say they are prepared to cancel the meeting unless the foreign ministers can resolve the matter at a special meeting Thursday.

Stakes Too High for Failure

Everyone seems to agree that the stakes for the future of Europe are too high to permit failure. As one veteran negotiator here put it: “It’s the way the community always works. Sooner or later they get down to a deadline when they have exhausted all the arguments and know that they have to agree. Then they agree.”

Negotiations to bring Spain and Portugal into the community have been going on for about five years. A treaty of roughly 900 pages is involved, and almost every economic problem involving Spain and Portugal seems to touch a political nerve.

Last week Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Andreotti summoned the other foreign ministers to Brussels in an effort to resolve the impasse. They talked for four full days and into a fifth.

By last Thursday night, after the longest foreign ministers’ meeting in the history of the community, Andreotti thought that an agreement had been reached when suddenly French Foreign Minister Roland Dumas said no. The French balked at the terms worked out in connection with fish. They also said they would have to have more protection against Spanish fruit and vegetables, which they expect to flood into France after Spain joins the community. They also insisted on a reduction in the amount of Spanish wine that the European Commission would be authorized to acquire, for distillation, at subsidized prices.

Largest Fishing Fleet

Spain has the largest fishing fleet in Europe--about 600,000 tons as opposed to France’s 66,000 tons. In principle, Spanish entry into the community would enable Spain to fish in French, Irish, British, Danish, West German and Italian waters, from which they are now excluded. But in practice, these waters are all protected under a community fishing agreement that divides up the areas and sets limits on the amount of fish that can be taken. The agreement took nearly three years to negotiate and will not expire until the year 2002.

At issue is the extent to which Spain is to be allowed to fish in the waters of the other countries. Andreotti had come close to working out a formula under which Spain would be kept out of the other countries’ fishing grounds for 10 years and then allowed in on a very restricted basis. France held out for even further restrictions.

So the foreign ministers will be back in Brussels on Thursday, with the heads of government coming in the following day unless no progress can be made on breaking the logjam.

If the heads of government can get to it, a major item on their agenda is a new report on accelerating the move toward political integration and reducing internal barriers to trade within the community.

France, West Germany and others of the original six nations of the Common Market want to eliminate the veto and let decisions be made by majority vote. But other countries, notably Britain and Denmark, are reluctant to take this step.